I know some of you are rolling your eyes right now wondering why in the heck I was working out on my vacation. After all, vacation is for rest and relaxation!
Trust me, there was plenty of that too. Since I knew that I was going to be splurging on mimosas and beachy cocktails all weekend, I planned to workout every day of my cruise. PLUS, at the spa raffle on the first night, the fitness team decided to inform us that the average person gains 7-14 pounds on a cruise.
What the actual ef. That is not ok. That knowledge bomb pretty much solidified the fact that I would not be a part of that statistic. It was also a MAJOR bonus that the ship's gym was pretty stellar.
They had TONS of cardio equipment, dumbbells, kettlebells, medicine balls, a pull-up bar, weight machines, and more. That made the workout options virtually ENDLESS. They also had an outdoor track (bonus that I could work on my tan while running) that I took advantage of one morning as well.
Maybe making time to workout on vacation seems annoying to you, but taking 30-45 minutes first thing each morning got me up and moving, sparked my energy for the day, and helped me feel like I earned each treat that I chose to indulge in. Even if you don't have time to fit a workout in every day, you can aim to walk more throughout the day on your days off. One of the days on our cruise, we decided to explore Nassau on foot. Between our steps on the ship and the walking around the city, Shawn and I put in over 10 miles of walking that day! I'm pretty sure we earned our dessert that night.
Other options for staying active on vacation can actually be fun activities that help you enjoy and explore the place you're visiting! We love to kayak, paddle board, snorkel, and hike. All of these activities are fun for us, and as an added benefit, are also forms of exercise! Research your vacation destination in advance to find out what activities or excursions are offered, and try to book something that keeps you active!
Sometimes the hotel or resort gyms turn out to be pretty crappy. The hotel we stayed at the night before the cruise was the perfect example. The gym was TINY. It was a small room with a couple mats and a treadmill, bike, and elliptical machine. Don't let that stop you! There are still tons of workouts you can do with very minimal equipment. Take this cardio and ab workout we did on the first morning for example:
Super simple! All you do is start a timer, and spend two minutes at each cardio station, with one minute of ab work in between each station. Complete this pattern for 3-4 rounds, or whatever you have time for! This workout is totally customizable to whatever equipment and/or time you might have. All of the cardio pieces can be changed to body weight movements such as jogging in place, jumping jacks, mountain climbers, ropeless "jump rope", burpees, air squats, etc! You can also change the core work to your favorite movements for those as well! I didn't have access to any medicine balls or weights for my Russian twists, so I just twisted side-to-side without it. In total, it was 48 minutes of work for the 4 rounds we completed, but you can adjust that as well by doing fewer (or more) rounds or movements!
That was enough to work up quite the sweat, and it left me feeling ready to get my tan on by the pool with a drink in hand. Literally:
Cruise step 1: Begin taking immediate advantage of drink package by ordering fancy beach cocktail. Step 2: Put on a cute new bikini and lay by the pool. On day one I was already winning at cruise life. I plan to share a couple more workouts I did on board the ship throughout the week, so stay tuned!
Enjoy your Tuesday, y'all!!
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